Dr. Patient Confedentiality

I have a friend whos been having sex (not with me lol) and she has to go in for a check up and is afraid her doc will see shes not a virgin and tell her mom. Dose that information fall under the doc-pat confed. or would the doctor tell?

Gold Member

The doctor isn't allowed to tell. I went in to see a doctor in 8th grade so I could play football on the school football team, and I had to get a physical. The doctor found out during my physical that I'm a smoker... she just gave me a "motherly" look, but couldn't say anything to my mom.

Gold Member

There is no way the doctor can know she's having sex unless she tells the doctor, even if it's a gynecological exam. Contrary to popular belief, there's no definitive way you can tell if a woman is a virgin or not. The hymen is not always intact even when a woman is a virgin. Many things can break or stretch the hymen. Some women don't really have much of one anyway.

If it's not a gynecological exam, there's no reason her doctor needs to know that information.

If it is a gyn exam, if the doctor asks she probably shouldn't lie about being sexually active so that the doctor can give her appropriate medical advice.

I don't agree with Blocko. The doctor is not allowed to tell the parent or he/she will risk losing their license. In this day and age where our society is increasingly litigious and gynecologists regularly see sexually active teens, I doubt the doctor will even bat an eye at it, let alone consider telling a parent.

Gold Member

I have a friend whos been having sex (not with me lol) and she has to go in for a check up and is afraid her doc will see shes not a virgin and tell her mom. Dose that information fall under the doc-pat confed. or would the doctor tell?

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The doctor is not allowed to tell or even hint such information to her parents or anyone else. It does fall under doctor patient confidentiality, but more importantly he would be violating the federal HIPPA Laws.

The laws regarding these things, as well as the boards which certify and license physicians, vary by state, so it's difficult to make blanket statements.

Most states require that certain diseases, conditions, or injuries be reported to state officials. Typical injuries which set states off are suspected child abuse, gunshot wounds, extensive burns, workplace injuries, blah blah. Diseases might be cancers (in states which maintain cancer registries), STDs, or any communicable diseases. So if the physician detects a touch of VD, he may be required to report it to the state health authorities. I'm not aware of any state which requires that it be reported to the patient's mother.

Juveniles can be borderline cases but it seems that in medicine (and again, what's included in the practice of medicine varies by state - some include dentists, psychiatrists, nurses, etc; some don't) confidentiality is usually considered to extend to juveniles as well as to adults. Obviously there's some point at which confidentiality can't be a workable policy - care of four-year-olds, for instance.

In any case, the association with the physician must be voluntary. A required physical for, say, an insurance company, would generally not be confidential.